Shift
by Madman The Mad
Summary: When her Council-funded expedition goes horrifyingly wrong, Liara T'soni must find a way back home. But she is caught up in the battle against the Combine, an inter-dimensional empire of immense power. Alongside Gordon Freeman, she will overthrow the combine to ensure humanity, and the galaxy's, survival against the Combine. But bigger powers are at play here. Much bigger...


Prologue

Unforeseen Consequences

 _Aboard the Citadel…_

 _/_

 _Liara T'soni_

 _Occupation: Archaeology_

 _Age: 97_

 _Background: Miss T'soni is certainly an interesting candidate. She and the rest of galactic civilization are blissfully unaware of the Combine's invasion of Earth, and its efforts to expand past the Sol System._

 _Her mother, Matriarch Benezia T'soni, holds weight in asari space, and many respect her, even though she has a pureblood daughter. Pureblood is a term used when two asari mate with each other. This is looked down on, however. But while she lacks the experience from another race, she is the perfect candidate for what my employers have in mind._

 _She is considerably intelligent, and will prove a valuable asset; and I am not one to squander my investments._

 _Notes: Will have to do a little 'convincing' to a friend of a friend to allow a small expedition through the Charon Relay; specifically Earth. I will not have to worry with the other scientists with T'soni; the Combine orbital defense platform will have an 'accident' and not shoot down the shuttle housing T'soni_ _and her surviving crew._

* * *

"Miss T'soni; the professor will see you now." A young asari receptionist called as she rushed about the lobby.

Liara promptly got up from her seat next to a window that looked over the Presidium. She looked over to the hall that sat in front of her, with a few students going to and from the hall ahead. She walked briskly and she held her head low. She was quite nervous in meeting the professor, a middle-aged salarian named Tolin Morth. He was a veteran Prothean ruins expert turned full-on archaeologist.

His office sat three doors down the hall, room 32. She walked further down, and stood in front of the door. Liara could her a conversation emanating from the room, but before she opened the door, it opened and it revealed a sharply dressed salarian with a briefcase of sorts. He looked at Liara with a critical eye.

He hummed. "You best not dawdle, Miss T'soni; time is of the essence." His speech was weird; he elongated the 's' in each word, and he spoke with a slight stutter. His voice was somewhat deep, deeper than the average male salarian's voice.

He brushed past her lightly, and proceeded down the way she came from.

She stared at him for a moment, but she pressed on into professor Morth's office. When she entered, the professor, sitting in his desk, looked perturbed, and nervous. His hands shook slightly, and he eyed the room with unnecessary caution. When he caught sight of Liara, donned in her white clothes, he nearly jumped, but shortly after her regained his composure.

"Ah, Liara T'soni; it is a pleasure to meet you!" He said with forced vigor, and he offered a hand in greeting.

"The pleasure's mine, professor Morth." She took the hand and shook it. She sat down in a chair in front of his desk. She looked Morth in the eye, and asked, "Who was the man that was in here?"

The color seemed to have drained from his face slightly, but he otherwise replied, although not truthfully.

"No one; just a fellow professor relaying some, ah, troubling news."

"Regarding what?" He looked thoughtfully for a minute.

"The mass relay leading to the unexplored systems, one relay 314. The news was that of…" He paused a moment, "… a probe misplacement."

Liara looked doubtfully at the professor.

"A 'probe misplacement'?" She parroted, crossing her arms. She was told to come see the professor for her hiring for an expedition past Relay 314.

"A probe malfunctioned near the area we were supposed to explore." He answered rather quickly. "Nothing more, nothing less." Liara looked at him a moment longer, before she restarted the conversation.

"Well," she began, "let's talk about my employment." Morth lightened up, and flashed a warm smile.

"Well, you've read the packet, haven't you? That's the basic premise of the entire project." He opened his omni-tool, and he showed Liara a couple of images. "These are of the planet we're studying. You see these dark dots imbedded in the atmosphere?" Liara nodded. "We believe them to be satellites, left behind by another race."

"Of course, there is a bit of a problem; when we get on the surface, we will, from the probe misplacement debacle, be cut off from communication to and from the ship _and_ the Citadel."

Liara processed the last bit of information. _Cut off from comms? How?_

"Professor Morth," Liara began, " how are we going to be cut off from communications?"

He looked Liara in the eye.

"The satellites in orbit, in theory at least, are jamming signals that come from and to the planet. An safeguard system perhaps? Or the past espionage plans of a long-forgotten war? Anyways, we are to set up a refueling depot first, to deliver information the old fashioned way." He seemed unsure of his words, but Liara decided not to press into it any further.

"Anything else I need to know?" Liara shifted in her seat.

"As a precaution, we are to arm scientists with basic firearms, in the case of encountering a hostile lifeform. Also, a small contingent of C-Sec guards, this being a Citadel expedition, will be assigned to our crew as well."

Morth clasped his hands together. "Is that all?"

Liara nodded, and stood up from her seat. She looked down onto Morth's desk; it was in slight disarray. A few papers were scattered, a half-finished cup of tea sat next to important documents. Liara then looked at the professor, and asked one last question.

"When do we leave?"

* * *

 _Somewhere in time and space..._

Gordon Freeman stood in a void. Blackness surrounded him, and he could not see anything, including himself. He had no idea how long he was there; since he defeated the Nihilanth in what seems like ten minutes ago, how long would he just… lay here? In the space between space?

He sighed, but no noise came out.

He then felt a warping sensation around him; he felt dizzy and sick.

Then, _he_ appeared. In a flash of white, _he_ 'walked' towards Gordon, donning _his_ iconic blue suit and briefcase. _His_ face was neutral, and _his_ iridescent blue/green eyes stared into Gordon's amethyst eyes. _He_ adjusted his tie, and _he_ spoke in _his_ cryptic and unsettling speech.

"Doctor Freeman, I have a bit of _interesting_ news." _His_ deep, neutral voice resonated in the empty space. _He_ narrowed his eyes. "I have recently signed on a new… employee. She will, ah, _assist_ you in your endeavors." _He_ looked Gordon in the eyes once more.

"I can tell that you want to leave soon; that's good. Be prepared." _He_ adjusted _his_ tie for the umpteenth time. "In but a few moments, you will go back to Earth." _He_ gave an unsettling smile. "Please just wait a moment longer; my employers are setting up you and our _friend's_ arrival."

* * *

 **Well, this was… an interesting thought I had recently.**

 **This came literally out of nowhere, and I just had the urge to write a Half-Life/Mass Effect crossover. Don't expect much from this, my writing's very basic, but then again, I've been told I am the best writer out of my entire school :/**

 **I bet it I was told that so I couldn't feel bad about my writing. But I want an audience's view on my writing, not one of my teachers.**

 **This is not my first time writing fan-fiction, but it is merely my first time** _ **posting**_ **it on the** _ **Internet.**_

 **Please, review and tell me what I need to improve on, and what needs checking up.**

 **Thank you for reading, if anyone ever does…**

 **Edit: I fixed some errors and sentence problems, so it's a bit more readable. If anyone's interested in become a beta-reader, PM me for details.**


End file.
